Extended Severe Chronic Migraine

I’ve now had this migraine since October, 2017. I’ve been into my Pain Management Doctor for treatment twice, neither of which has had any effect on this migraine. First treatment I’m pretty sure was was just steroid shots, the second was Radio Frequency, but not in the right place, which I told him at least 3 times before the first needle placement and again before the second needle placement. I have only tried to drive twice by myself since October, the second time was near disastrous, to many medications in my system , plus the blinding pain of the migraine itself.
I am at a loss as to where, and what to do at this point. My Sumaptriptan shots only bring my pain level down from an 8+ to a low 7for an hour, sometimes 2 hours at most.
I’ve never had a migraine last this long. And my neck is also involved. I can tell that C1 and C3/4 are both out of place, I have had a chiropractic adjustment,but it just seemed to make it worse, and now my mid back and lower back and hips are causing me extreme pain. Just walking around the house inside or outside for more than 5 to 10 minutes makes my whole body hurt, and my head is slamming with pain.
If anyone has any suggestions, please send them my way. Oh and yes I have tried ice, heat, my tenz, and my neck point adjuster.g

Thank you for reaching out and sharing your story with us. I’m sorry to hear you are having extended migraine pain, I understand how frustrating and exhausting that is. Let me see what information I can give you that may help.

For most people with migraine disease, I’m sorry to say pain management is not a great answer. Pain medications mask pain, not stop a migraine attack. Seeing as this has lasted so long, it’s time for intervention to help break this cycle. We really don’t like to see migraine pain last longer than 72 hours, as it increases our risk of status migrainous and stroke. When you have a minute, take a look at this information; https://migraine.com/blog/what-is-emergency/.

When I have extended migraine pain my doctor will give me a IV infusion of magnesium sulfate, something for nausea, and pain. Then follows it up with a five day course of divalproex sodium or Depakote. Here is a list of medications that can be used in IV form to break a nasty migraine cycle;

Brand name Decadron, or dexamethasone
Brand name Depacon, valproate sodium
Brand name Inapsine, or droperidol
Brand name DHE-45 or dihydroergotamine
Brand name Keppra or levetiracetam
ketamine
lidocaine
Brand name Phenegran or promethazine
Brand name Regaln, or metochlopramide
propofol
Brand name Ultram or tramadol

Something else we can run into is called rebound or medication adaptation headache, which can occur if we take pain relievers and/or migraine medications like sumatriptan, whether they are over-the-counter or prescription, more than two to three days a week. If we are in a rebound cycle, our migraine attacks will be more difficult to treat and we can end up in a daily cycle of endless pain. Here is more information on this; https://migraine.com/living-migraine/stop-rebound-headaches/. I’ve experienced this due to caffeine, which is a stimulant. I limit myself to one cup of coffee a day, most days!

Whitelk2, I’m so sorry this is happening to you. When a migraine goes on forever and forever it really wears you down.

I would second Nancy’s advise to talk to your doctor about infusions. My migraines are intractable (don’t respond well to traditional meds and tend to go on forever) and tend to last on average 5-7 days, but I’ll go through spells of basically having a really long one for months at a time. What breaks those up for me is infusions.

You said you are having back pain. Have you been to a doctor to see what is going on there and if that can be treated? Sometimes having pain, or whatever trigger can exacerbate what’s going on migraine-wise.